More live oaks in Memorial Park need replacing

Thursday

Live oaks are the stars of the newly expanded south end of Memorial Park.

They create two rows of trees that provide welcome shade. But some of those trees — with their canopies sculpted into boxy shapes prior to transplanting — aren’t doing too well.

In early January, prior to a town celebration of the Town Square revitalization project, crews working for contractor Burkhardt Construction had to replace five of the 32 live oaks planted there. They had dry, brown canopies.

Landscaping firm Rood Landscape will take out the sick trees and replace them with healthy ones this summer, when the final phase of the Town Square revitalization project starts, according to Mike Roach, a project engineer with the Public Works Department.

In the meantime, the replacement trees will have their roots pruned and canopies trimmed, Roach said.

To establish the live oaks in the park, Rood Landscape is watering and fertilizing them weekly. The company also is installing a below-ground grid under the stone surface to help deliver nutrients, Roach said.

The need to replace some of the trees is not unusual, Roach said.

"With any construction project that includes landscaping, there is a risk that some of the planted material dies, … this is the reason that the material has a warranty through the contractor," Roach said.

The final phase of the Town Square project involves redoing exterior sidewalks in the two-block area, adding more trees along the perimeter, as well as pedestrian-friendly sidewalk bumpouts and adding a crosswalk on the west side of County Road.